After being handed a 3-0 lead in the first, Noah Syndergaard struggled through his worst start of the season on Saturday night as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Mets by a score of 4-5 in Tropicana Field.
Syndergaard, 22, lasted just 4.0 innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six batters.
The young right-hander seemed off right from the start, failing to find any command of his breaking pitches and getting hit hard predominantly on his fastball as Rays hitters tagged him pretty good during his 98 pitch ordeal.
Ironically, after the game Syndergaard told reporters that he felt so good taking the mound he believed he was going to throw a gem and pitch a shutout.
“I thought I was going to go nine scoreless,” he said. “But you can’t always plan that.”
“I got a little tense out there, a little frustrated,” Syndergaard said. “I wasn’t really sure what was going on in the first inning. It’s just like a merry go-round. I just get back out there and continue to try to make quality pitches.” (MLB.com)
“If I get tense, I start trying to throw harder and harder, it doesn’t necessarily work out that way. I just try to stay loose.”
Entering the game with an impressive 1.80 ERA in his last nine starts, Syndergaard took the loss (6-6) and saw his ERA go up to 3.01 for the season.
While Syndergaard has been virtually untouchable at home where he’s pitched to a 1.57 ERA in Citi Field, it’s been a different story on the road where he is now 0-5 with a 5.01 ERA.
“I feel just as comfortable as I am when I’m at home,” Syndergaard said. “But, you know, with the home crowd, it’s a little bit easier to pitch. It’s just something I’m going to have to learn to deal with.”
